How to Banish Zombie Tasks

Looking over my to-do list the other day, I noticed the same tasks that had been
there for weeks, and it's a pattern I've observed since I started keeping to-do
lists. There always seem to be some tasks that have an almost undead quality to
them. You either end up looking at them and ignoring them, or you hack away at
them for an hour or two and are still no closer to completion at the end.

The worst part about these tasks is that they suck away your energy and distract
you from your major goals. Completing a task and ticking it off helps to fend
off procrastination, so seeing your next action list swell with hordes of undead
tasks is not helpful because it can cause you to ignore the list altogether.

How do we put these zombie tasks to bed?

Why do we get Zombie tasks?

The easiest way to make sure a task keeps coming back is to define it
incorrectly. There are a few mistakes that seem to keep cropping up, and it's
important to keep them in mind when creating your next action lists.

Mistaking a to-do item with a someday/maybe – I love the "someday/maybe" list
from the GTD system. If you do any kind of creative work, you'll always end up
with creating ideas you don't have the time or energy to implement at your
current point. Keeping a someday/maybe list helps you keep track of these ideas
so they don't disappear into the ether.

If you see a task on your to-do list that you aren't going to work on for a
while, it might be best to move it to your "someday/maybe" list instead. As long
as you're reviewing this list in your weekly review, it won't get forgotten and
you'll be able to divert your energy to other tasks.

Mistaking a to-do item for a project – This is an easy mistake to make,
especially if you're not clear on exactly what a project is. A project is
anything that requires more than one next-action to complete, and a next action
is a physical action that will move a project closer to completion. It can take
time to fully appreciate the difference between the two, but once you've
mastered the technique you'll find your to-do lists are much more helpful.

Not giving a task finite limits – A next action should have a beginning and
an end, and should ideally involve a single activity. The reason for this is
that you want to start it, work on it and then KNOW that it's finished. If you
can't work on it for a session and know that it's finished, it's probably a
project.

Missing previous steps – This is another problem I've run into quite
often. I'll see a task, but remember that something else has to be done before I
can do it. It's a good idea to enter this new task into your system, and move
the old one to the project task list.

I like to plan ahead, and one of the things I don't like about the GTD system is
the lack of next action grouping. Keeping a separate task list for each project
helps a little, but if you have a lot of projects it can get quite unwieldy.

Preventing Your Tasks From Becoming Zombies

Now that we know what not to do, let's take a quick look at the qualities that
make a good next action.

Something that can be done in one sitting – This isn't an essential
requirement, but I've found that it helps to list tasks as something that can be
done in a single session. If it will take a lot longer, then it's possible that
it's actually a project so I'll try to break it down further.

It's a physical action – The next action list should only list actions that
need to be performed. If you're looking over a list and having to process items
as you go, then they need to be re-worded.

Finite Limits – There are set conditions for the task completing. Instead of
"Brainstorm article ideas", use "Brainstorm 25 article ideas". This way you know
when you've done enough. It sounds simple, but it's an easy detail to leave out.

Cleaning Up The Stragglers

The easiest way to get rid of the lingering tasks is to re-process them during
your weekly review. I've found that I get a lot more zombies if I've been lax
with my weekly reviews. It can be a difficult habit to get into, but it really
is the most essential component of an effective GTD system.